BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO
MINISTER of Education and Human Resource Development, Lanelle Tanangada is calling on women leaders to work together by putting the interest and well-being of people first.
Tanangada stated this after some women leaders have labeled female parliamentarians as ‘cow girls’.
“Let us all work together. We must put the interest and well-being of our people first and work together to serve our people,” she said.
“We have come a long way and for the first time four of us are inside this honorable house and we are trying to pull more,” Tanangada added.
“While I acknowledged a lot of concerns that are raised, we are women and we are concerned about the security issue of our family and we cannot deny that fact.”
She said it is rather sad that for the first time in Solomon Islands history, we had four women in Parliament, yet it is not good enough for some well-respected leaders of this nation.
‘Thus, they continue to label the four of us, corrupt, easily swayed by money and they labeled us cowboys of cow girls.
“It’s a derogatory term meaning a person who engages in reckless behavior especially for purpose of showing off dishonest and incompetency.
“I wish if such women leaders can sit in caucus and cabinet and hear our voices as we debate and discuss issues that are of national interest, ”Tanangada said.
“I said this is sad because the way the words are framed is putting a bad image to men, so are you saying we women are just bad as the men?
“I am trying to understand where this ideologies are coming from when we come from a cultural context where both men and women work together for a common good,” she said.
